GB2208299A

GB2208299A - An arrangement for regulating the speed of circulation of a fabric through a treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2208299A
Application number: GB8816184A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Antonio Termes Herran
Original assignee: Argelich Termes y Cia SA
Current assignee: Argelich Termes y Cia SA
Priority date: 1987-07-31
Filing date: 1988-07-07
Publication date: 1989-03-22
Also published as: IT8821572A0; IT1227319B; DE3825720A1; ES2004963A6; GB8816184D0; FR2618805A1

Description

r 1 -7 r 2 2 U 8 2 5 1) AN ARRANGEMENT FOR REGULATING THE SPEED OF

CIRCULATION OF A. FABRIC THROUGH A TREATMENT APPARATUS.

The invention relates to an arrangement for regulating the speed of circulation of a fabric through a treatment apparatus, particularly in apparatus in which the fabric to be treated is disposed in endless rope form and is drawn along by a liquor, with the aid of transfer means.

The transfer means include a liquid for drawing the fabric along and which at the same time is the treatment liquor itself. There are also mechanical means such as a motorised winch.

In the regularly known apparatus, there is one circuit for the fabric to be treated together with the treatment liquor and another circuit for the treatment liquor alone, the said one circuit being provided with a storage chamber in which the major portion of the fabric is accumulated in a slow run, which fabric then passes through hydraulic drawing means for transfer.through one or more fast run conduits, until it returns to the said storage chamber, completing the cycle which is repeated successively throughout the whole treatment operation.

The second circuit comprises a pump aspirating liquor from at least one point in the storage chamb&r and pumping C> it through a heat exchanger and a filter, for discharge into the said drawing means from which the liquor flows jointly with the fabric through the said chamber.

One of the drawbacks facing the operator of the apparatus is to be able to regulate the speed of circulation of the fabric, which must be substantially the same as the peripheral speed of the said winch and the traction to which the said fabric is submitted by the drawing means, since if the latter impose a higher speed on the fabric than the peripheral speed of the winch, then surface faults appear on the fabric, such as friction or rubbing marks. On the other hand, if the peripheral speed of the winch is greater than the speed of the drawing means, the fabric accumulates in the entry to said means, jamming the circulation of the fabric at the entry to such means.

The above shows how important it is to be able to adjust the speed of circulation of the fabric relative to the speed imposed by the drawing means which cause the fabric to move.through the apparatus, bearing in mind that the speed imposed on the fabric is not uniform, since it may vary from one type of fabric to another, depending on the type of fibre, tIle fabric structure, the weight per . t.

metre, etc., th.e liquor temperature at any ode time and -other circumstances.

- The arrangement of the itvention is characterised by comprising at least one marker means attached to a point of the fabric within the treatment apparatus and of a sensor means located without the apparatus, for detecting the passage of said indicator means on each revolution of the fabric through the closed circuit, the sensor means being associated with a microprocessor to which it outputs signals so that the latter, processing them, may automatically correct the speed-of circulation of the fabric according to a work programme preset for the 10 apparatus, by controlling the transfer means.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the marker means comprises a magnetic body detected by the sensor on passing in the proximity thereof..

Further advantages and features of the invention will be appreciated from the following description which, without any intention to limit the scope, describes a preferred mode of implementation of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

The figure is a schematic view in longitudinal section in elevation of a conventional apparatus for the wet treatment of fabrics-, provided with the said arrangement.

The said apparatus for the wet treatment of fabrics comprises conventionally a storage chamber 1 for a fabric 2 disposed in endless rope form and a transfer tube 3, the closed circuit beiri..-, completed by a truncated cone shaped C i 4 body 4 at one end of the chamber and a vertical body 5 at the other end of the said chamber, in which there is located the transfer means for the fabric 2, formed by mechanical andlor hydraulic members, said transfer being accomplished in a slow run with folds in said chamber 1 and in a fast run through the tube 3.

The drawing means for the fabric 2 consist of a motorised winch 6, housed in the vertical body 5, plus an overflow 7 and jet 8, located in the body 5 and into which respective conduits 9 and 10 debouch. A pump 11, acting as a basic drawing member in communication with a plurality of points of the closed-circuit, discharges liquor towards the said overflow and jet through a heat exchanger.12 and filter 13. Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the transfer tube 3 is provided with a chamber 14 in communication with the pump 11 to aspirate liquor and reduce the speed thereof in the tube 3.

The arrangement of the invention, according to the present embodiment, consists of the p.esence of a marker means 15 attached to the fabric 2, preferably at the join between the two ends thereof and a sensor means 16 detecting the passagg of the marker means-15 in the proximity thereof, i.e. on each revolution ot the fabric on its movement through the closed circuit. Thus the speed of circulation of the fabric is detected, so as to be able to make any necessary correction thereto by adjusting the drawing means within the apparatus.

ds, 6 1 25 1 1 Furthermore, the ariangement includes a microprocessor 17 for making the pertinent fabric circulation speed correction, according to a preset programme, on processing the signal received from the sensor means 16, whereby the said operation is carried out automatically, i.e. without manual intervention, by acting on the winch 6 motor, the valves of the conduits 9 and 10 or pump 11. In this way an intelligent regulation of the fabric circulation speed through the treatment apparatus is obtained.

Hereinafter there is described a numerical example of the behaviour of an arrangement of the type described.

Assuming the winch 6 to have a diameter of 0.28 m (11 in.) and that with the thickness of the fabric it becomes 0.3 m (11.8 in.), the corresponding development will be 0.3 x 3.1416 = 0.9425 m (37 in.), whereby if the apparatus operator wishes the fabric to move at 300 m/min (328 yds/min), then he shall set the winch to rotate at 300/0.9425 = 318.30 rpm.

Generally, the operator is aware""of the fabric rope length which, in the present case, could be 675 m (738.2 yd) and if he attaches a mErker means 15 at:one point in the rope, it should Complete one revolution-every 2 minutes seconds, time used to set the control. If;for any reason, the timing of the nekt lap is 2 minutes, this means that the fabric has traversed at 337.5 m/min (369 yd/min) as a result of which by way of the signal output by the sensor means 16 the winch 6 motor is adjusted to correct the rotational rate thereof.

In another case, if the fabric rope length is not known, two marker means 15 are attached spaced apart by 100 m (109.4 yd), for example, whereby, using the same data as the previous case, they should emit two signals at an interval of 20 seconds.

In the same way, as said above, instead of acting on the winch 6 motor, the pump 11 motor could be adjusted or the stop cocks of the activation means from the conduits 10 9 and 10 could be opened wider, to provide a larger flowrate and thereby obtain also a higher fabric speed. Obviously the time interval may have been longer and it is required to lower the speed, in which case one would proceed in the reverse way to that explained above.

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Claims

C L A I M S

1.- An arrangement for regulating the speed of circulation of a fabric through a treatment apparatus, particularly in apparatus in which the fabric (2) to be treated is disposed in endless rope form and is drawn along by a liquor, with the aid of transfer means, characterised in that it.comprises at least one marker means (15) attached to a point of the fabric (2) within the treatment apparatus and of a sensor means (16) located without the apparatus, for detecting the passage of said marker means (15) on each revolution of the fabric (2) through the closed circuit, the sensor means (16) being associated with a microprocessor (17) to which it outputs signals so that the latter, processing them, may automatically correct the speed of circulation of the fabric (2) according to a work programme preset for the apparatus, by controlling the transfer means.

2. An arrangement according to claim in which the marker means (15) ccmprises a magnetic body.

3. An arrangement for re ulating the speed of circulation of a fabric through a treatment apparatus, the arrangement being substantially as herefore described with reference to the drawing.

Published 1985 at The Patent Office. Statc House. 66 71 High Holborn. London WCIR 4TP. Further copies xnky be obtained from The Patent Office. Sales Branch, St Mary Cray. Orpington. Kent BR5 3RD. Printed ky Multiplex techniques ltd. St Mary Cray, Kent Con 1 87